Bang Bang
by SavageLollipop
Summary: One minute Tessa Winters was a disappointment to her parents, a lowly barmaid and her longest relationship was with her cat. Next thing she knows she suddenly has a title (Supervisory Special Agent), there are bullets flying everywhere and she's living with a genius she may or may not be completely in love with. Breaking the law just got so much more terrifying.
1. Chapter 1

I painted a stripe of lime green nail-polish across the nail of my big toe but my hand spasmed suddenly and I streaked a line across the carpet.

"Oh shit," I mumbled, rubbing at the mark. I glanced up at the t.v which I was sat on the floor in front of and listened intently as the BAU team from the show Criminal Minds, delivered their profile on the killer.

"**A ****white female in her late 30's early 40's who thinks killing is the only way she can obtain a child. Maternal desire is the profound emotional desire to mother a baby. She could possibly do something drastic like kidnap a child or perform a c-section abduction. She also might work for the foster system."**

It was amazing how they could gather all of that information from a few bodies. Of course I knew it wasn't real (as much as I wished it all was) but there were people out there -real life profilers who actually did this for a living. And here I was, Tessa Winters, a lowly barmaid with a degree in Criminological Psychology (which was actually a complete waste of time and I'm still paying for it) and the best relationship I've had in the past three years is with my cat, Kevin.

And I had a slight obsession with Dr Spencer Reid. But who wouldn't? He was quirky, beyond intelligent, I loved his hair far too much and he was unfortunately, a fictional character. The best men always were weren't they?

The sharp knock at the door brought me back to my living room and with Reid's face still fresh in my mind, I paused the television and stood up slowly. I had been sat in the same position on the floor for about six or seven episodes which meant that my limbs had gradually fallen asleep. I screwed the lid back onto the nail-polish and put it onto the side table next to a lamp. Another knock, harder this time.

"I'm coming!" I called irritably, annoyed that I was being pestered. I didn't usually get visitors so late in the day (it was about five o'clock) and I wanted to finish the episode before I had to get ready for work. The evening shift on a Friday night was a bitch at The Dirty Dog, the bar where I worked. Everyone had a reason to get drunk -no matter how poor it may be, and the end of the week seemed to be a good enough reason for everyone to get absolutely plastered and raucous. I pulled on the hoodie which I had dumped on the sofa earlier and tried to disguise the fact that I hadn't actually gotten dressed yet today. Raking a hand through my hair, I hurried over to the front door and opened it.

"Oh- it's you,"

"That's no way to talk to family," Caroline Davies, my young brother by four years; Steven's fiancé and the most perfect and arrogant woman in the entire world, flicked her white blonde hair over her shoulder and shot me a dazzling smile.

"Almost family," I muttered as she pushed past me and into my flat. Caroline and I weren't exactly BFF's but that was mainly because she was a grade A bitch. But my brother was 'desperately in love' with her so I put up with her. Mostly. Steve had always been a little oblivious in when it came to girls and he had ignored my dire warnings about this one (not that he could really rely on my stellar taste if we were to look back on my dating history) and decided that because I hated the woman, Caroline must be perfect wife material.

She wrinkled her nose at the general mess around the place and the lack of stylish décor. "So what can I do for you?" I asked, anxiously fiddling with the hem of my hoodie and loitering by the door.

With her eyes still glancing around, Caroline smiled. "Your mother sent me," she said, finally turning to look at me with a smug smile on her face. "She wanted to know if you were going to make the rehearsal dinner tomorrow? Unless of course, you're too busy?"

Oh dear lord of course, the stupid rehearsal dinner. How could I have forgotten? It's all my mother and Caroline had gone on about for weeks- why did mum have to convince Caroline to make me a bloody bridesmaid?

"No no- I can make it," I said. I hated the thought of attending an event which was solely centred around Caroline but I feared my mum's wrath a lot more. Dorothy Winters A.K.A Dotty the Ice Queen (a personal favourite of mine), was a London socialite who harboured a love for expensive and elaborately thought-out brunches, luncheons and dinner parties. Ironically enough, no one really ate at those parties.

"Oh and you're welcome to bring a date dear," Caroline added. "Although we don't expect you to so no pressure." The comment made my blood boil and I fought to keep my temper down. It would not be wise to kill my brother's fiancée before they had even been married. It would so not be a good idea. I had to keep telling myself that as Caroline sat down on the edge of my couch and folded her hands neatly in her lap. I really wanted to punch her in her stupid perfect, smug face.

"I actually have someone in mind thanks," I told her before I could stop myself and think rationally. Caroline's perfectly sculpted eyebrows rose somewhere near her hairline in disbelief.

"You're kidding," she laughed, putting a delicate hand up in front of her mouth as if she was trying to contain her mirth. I scowled at her and tried to stop myself blushing. The only person I was kidding was myself.

"No actually I'm not." I retorted irritably. "In fact I'll give him a call once you leave." Oh shit, who was I going to call? Who did I know with a penis?

Why could I not think of any male names?

For god's sake why did I not have any guy friends?

"Oh really? Well what's his name then?" Caroline asked, trying to mask her curiosity with skepticism.

Male name. Male name. Now would be a really good time to think of a male name.

Panic. "Spencer Reid!"

Ah shit. That wasn't a good idea. That was most possibly the worst idea ever. Even worse than the time I tried to roller-skate off the end of a pier down the seafront when I was eight.

"He's a doctor," I said my eyes flitting around the room nervously. "Practically a genius-" Oh my god someone stop me making an arse of myself. "He has three PhDs and two BAs you know," I waffled nervously. Why was I still talking?

Caroline looked impressed to her chagrin. And despite the blind panic beginning to well up in my chest at the thought of being caught in my humiliating lie, I did feel smug. But only for a minute.

"Listen Caroline, it's been really nice chatting to you but I have to get ready for work now," I said hurriedly, getting up and walking towards the door. Caroline took her time getting up and then made an exaggerated display of brushing herself down and ridding her cream dress of make believe dust. Well if we're being honest here, it was probably real dust. She passed through the doorway and then turned back to look at me with a smile.

"I can't wait to see you and _Spencer the Genius_ tomorrow night," she said, chuckling at her own sparkling wit.

"Yes yes," I muttered distractedly, waving my hand at her. "See you." I shut the door quickly and then slid down it, ending up on the floor with my knees tucked under my chin.

I buried my face in my hands and groaned. What the hell was I going to do now? I couldn't very well show up at the dinner alone and I had literally just made up a fake boyfriend to avoid pity. Hi yeah- rock bottom? It's me Tessa, I'd like to stop being knocked down now.

I glanced at the clock on my wall. "Crap," I mumbled, clumsily getting to my feet. I was late for work.

"Fosters and two Barcardi and cokes please," a guy with a neatly trimmed beard asked from the consumer side of the bar. The better side in my opinion.

"Sure thing bud," I replied grabbing three glasses from the counter behind me and placing them on the bar. I pulled a pint of Fosters from the tap and neatly scraped off the foam with the side of the glass. I then filled the other two glasses a third of the way with rum and poured the coke over the top.

"Ice or no ice?"

"Ice please," the man answered. I scooped a few cubes of ice into the glasses and put them on a tray for the man. "Cheers," he said taking the tray. He pulled out his wallet and handed me a tenner. "Fancy giving me your phone number?" I raised an eyebrow at the cocky bastard who pocketed his change and I began wiping down the bar with a rag.

"And why would you want my number?" I asked innocently, not meeting his eyes.

"Cause red-heads are my thing." I glanced at the two blondes sitting in the booth he had just vacated. Right.

I sighed and looked up at him. "Why would I go out with you when your wife is sitting in that booth with her best friend?" The guy's eyes flitted over his shoulder to his table and then back at me.

"I- um-"

"And it's not like you're going through a dry spell right?" I asked him. "You're sleeping with your wife's friend after all."

"How would you-"

"You're wearing a wedding ring, the friend keeps looking at you over your wife's shoulder and you have a motel key in your wallet," I said, pushing the tray towards him. "Have a nice night." Opening and closing his mouth like a goldfish, the guy picked up the tray and walked back to his table, a little less swagger in his step. I smirked and returned to wiping down the bar. At least I was able to do something with my degree. And then I realised that in the end that random douche was probably the winner because I'm still a barmaid and if his parking ticket sticking out of his wallet was recent then he worked at a bank most likely bringing in a pay-check I could only dream about. And the smirk was gone.

I just successfully brought down my own high. Go me.

Before I knew it we were on the wrong side of 11 o'clock and my shift was almost over. I groped around in the pocket of my too short and too tight skirt that was my uniform for my phone so that I could double-check the time. I found it and tried typing in my password but my vision was blurry and my fingers suddenly felt too big for the little Blackberry keys. So I may have had a drink or two in an attempt to cheer myself up a bit. Okay so maybe I had gotten completely hammered because no man ever hit on me in a normal setting and I was probably going to be working this same job until the day I died. But that was all right now because I couldn't focus which made everything seem really funny and I kept spilling drinks down myself and people kept giving me tips and all I could see were bright shapes.

"Winters I think you need to go get some fresh air, maybe have a piss or something," the manager Hank said, looking at me pointedly. He wasn't being strict with me because he wasn't really in much of a position to judge me, this was the first night I had got pissed on the job, this looked like a regular Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to Hank. I sighed and hiccuped suddenly which made my whole body jerk and I giggled. I saluted and put my phone back in my pocket and staggered towards the bathroom.

I can hold my alcohol- hell I can drink the best of them under the table usually but there gets to a point when you're drinking to stop your misery, when you stop giving a shit about what you're actually drinking and the only thing you focus on is to keep the numb buzz going for as long as possible. Which meant that if I had any more then there was a good chance that I was going to die on the dingy floor of liver failure. I pushed open the door to the ladies' room and stumbled inside, quickly throwing myself into a cubicle just as I threw up, narrowly getting it in the toilet.

"Oh fuck," I groaned, falling back on my arse and leaning against the door. With a considerable amount of alcohol gone from my system the effects began wearing off and a severe headache kicked in. I twisted my shaking hands into my knotted red hair and shudder as a wrack of shivers hit my body. The vomit left an acidic taste in my mouth and my throat burned.

This was not where I wanted to end up. This was not where I wanted my life to go. Tears slipped from my undoubtedly bloodshot eyes and rolled down my cheeks. I tucked my knees under my body and I began to sob.

And then promptly fell asleep.

**A/N- So... I started a new story! I know I probably shouldn't but recently I went on study leave and got really lonely and turned to the Criminal Minds boxset for company. One thing lead to another and now I have a story. It was a moment of weakness. **

**Anyway this is suppose to be a bit of a laugh and it's my first Criminal Minds fic so please tell me what you think! **

**~Jess**


	2. Chapter 2

I woke up what felt like ten minutes later and found myself curled up in a ball on the floor of a toilet stall. I blinked groggily as the poor fluorescent lighting assaulted my eyes and I raised my head slightly. Shit no that hurt too much. It felt like a monster had invaded my head and was now raging a war on my brain. I did however notice that the toilet stall didn't smell like piss. Well it did because you know, it was a toilet but there were no piss stained tiles beneath me just what looked like marble flooring.

Where was I? This looked far too fancy to belong to the bar. I slowly uncurled my body from its foetal position and I stretched out my legs, getting to my feet shakily. I couldn't have been asleep longer than ten minutes otherwise Hank would have come looking for me but it felt like I had been sleeping for hours. I unlocked the door and slipped out, stepping into what looked like something out of the Ritz compared to The Dirty Dog's bathrooms. Cream walls, a long row of porcelain sinks lined the wall in front of me with mirrors above each sink. This was definitely not the bathroom I had fallen asleep in.

I caught sight of my reflection in one of the mirrors and cringed. Red hair stuck up like a bird's nest, eye make-up clung to my eyelids and loitered underneath my eyes making me look like a panda. My skin looked pale and my light green eyes were bloodshot and puffy from the tears. My skirt had hitched up around the thighs and had become even shorter than normal, whereas my tight corset like top was hanging low and I hastily pulled it up. This uniform was so far from regulation. All in all I looked like a sad vampire who had been on the wrong end of a wooden stake. I tried pulling my fingers through my hair and just succeeded in creating more knots and making it stand up on my head.

"Ugh," I said to my reflection. As if it was my reflection who had done all the heavy drinking and given me this headache. I looked at the door and sighed. I had to leave sometime- now or never I supposed. I walked over to the door and paused just long enough to glance longingly at the out of reach and too small window above one of the toilet stalls before pushing open the door and stepping out into a busy, brightly lit corridor.

Why did I suddenly have the feeling that I had mysteriously been transported to the magical land of Oz? "Toto, I've a feeling _we_'_re not in Kansas any more_." I whispered to the bathroom door beside me. Until I realised that the door was just a door and I moved away quickly, not exactly blending in with the crowd of fast-paced, smartly dressed office people. Where the hell was I? I was shepherded down the hall by the people around me and we moved like a well practised school of fish. Well, they did, I stumbled along with them in my too high heels with absolutely no idea where I was going. I had literally never been in a situation like this- I always remembered everything when I was drunk so this had me slightly worried. Had I been roofied? Although how does someone slip something into the bartender's drink?

Suddenly a hand grabbed my wrist and yanked me back against the flow of people and out of the crowd. I yelled in surprise (I don't do screaming) and whirled around, coming face to chest with a police officer with a young face.

"Hey lady hookers that way," he said with an attempt at a serious expression and jab of his thumb in the direction of another corridor which branched off from this one.

"My name is Tessa Winters-" and then I realised what he had just said. "Oh my god did you just call me a hooker?" I shrieked, wrenching my wrist out of his grasp and taking a step back. "A hooker- a fucking hooker?" I stood rather unattractively with my mouth open in shock and my heart beating a mile a minute in my anger.

"So you're er- not a prostitute?" The dick head police man stuttered.

"No I'm fucking not!" I shouted, jabbing a finger into his chest. "I could bloody sue you!" I had absolutely no idea whether I could sue a man of the law with a case of mistaken identity -and it's not like I didn't look the part- but I had just noticed that he had an American accent. A seriously strong American accent.

I quickly decided to push my anger to the side in favour of asking him where I was.

"Where exactly are we?" I asked, trying to put on my sweetest face. Which I must admit tended to look a bit like I was in a lot of pain. The cock sucking police man looked slightly blind-sided by my sudden change in pitch and emotion but he quickly surpassed that and went to confused.

"We're in an FBI branch in Quantico, Virginia..." he said suspiciously. My mouth dropped open. Oh shit oh fuck oh fucking shit we definitely weren't in Kansas any more. Or England. Or even in fucking Europe. Shit how was this even possible? How the fucking hell did I manage to sleepwalk all the way to fucking _Virginia_?

"Oh my god," I muttered, my legs giving out from underneath me. Luckily the fast reacting police officer who up close smelled like cheap cologne and tobacco, moved quickly enough to catch me before I hit the floor. My head felt too light to analyse the fact that cheap cologne meant that he was probably fresh out of the academy, as did the buzz cut and muscles I felt move underneath his neatly pressed blue shirt. No no time to think of that now, I was in fucking Virginia. Why did the place sound do familiar to me? I felt like I had some sort of connection to here but for the life of me I couldn't work out what. Maybe it was because I was in motherfucking Virginia in motherfucking America.

"Woah careful there," the officer said, pulling me back to my feet. I swayed dangerously, partly from the lasting effects of the drink but mostly from the fact that I had somehow travelled from London to Virginia without remembering anything. And I had somehow wandered into the bloody FBI? How was that even possible? They were the fucking FBI!

"Oh my god oh my god oh my god," I mumbled, smacking myself in the head repeatedly. The officer began to look more and more alarmed and he quickly let go of me and put some distance between us.

"So er- who did you say you were?" he asked worriedly.

"Tessa Winters," I practically sobbed. This was not happening, I was obviously in some sort of alcohol induced night terror.

"Really?" Now the officer seemed super surprised. "Well um... you're supposed to come with me..." I had enough sense to arch an eyebrow.

"That was like the worst pick up line ever." I said. The officer coughed awkwardly.

"That wasn't a pick up line. I was ordered to find a Ms Tessa Winters and escort her to the BAU's office because she was extremely late to their meeting." he recited. BAU? BAU?

"The Behavioural Analysis Unit?" I asked quickly, staring him down. He nodded slowly.

"Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner said I had to come find you.."

"SUPERVISORY SPECIAL AGENT AARON HOTCHNER?" I screamed -yes I openly admit to screaming that last line- and that's when I remembered that Criminal Minds is primarily based in Quantico Virginia and that's where the team have their offices.

So the alcohol induced dream was starting to seem more likely.

The officer nodded again and people began to halt the flow to stop and stare at me. The officer was beginning to look quite uncomfortable and had gone a rather glorious shade of red. "Come with me," he said trying to regain some professionalism. I completely forgot about Virginia and instead focussed on Aaron Hotchner. And Reid. Oh lordy Reid...

"Yes coming!" This poor man must have thought I was completely bipolar.

I struggled to keep up with the officer as we seemed to be going against the tide. I tell you it was lucky I was so small so I could squeeze between people and slip in and out of gaps to try and stay within the officer's vicinity. We finally stopped outside of a room and the officer rapped smartly at the door. He coughed nervously and self-consciously straightened his collar and tightened his tie.

"You look great," I whispered nudging him. He smiled shyly but still looked a little wary at my complete personality make-over. The door opened and Aaron Hotchner (screw his real name) stepped out and looked at the officer with a grim expression.

Aaron Hotchner. In all of his serious faced, dark haired, fresh suited glory.

I must have been in heaven.

And then his gaze landed on me and his eyes looked like they were going to bulge out of his head.

"Ms Winters sir," the officer said. Hotch blanched visibly and had to clear his throat.

"This is Supervisory Special Agent Tessa Winters?" he asked weakly. I nodded and then played back the Supervisory Special Agent bit back in my head. No that couldn't be right. I was a bartender. I wasn't an agent...?

"I think you have the wrong person," I piped up. Screw real life, I was so past being shocked that all I could do was summon up confusion at being called an agent.

"Are you Tessa Winters?" he asked me. I felt like I was being questioned by a school teacher. I nodded meekly. "Then you are the new addition to our team."

"Um what?"

**A/N- Me again! Haaaaaai y'all. So new chapter, the very next day. So please don't get used to this pace- my updating is erratic. But for now enjoy! Reviews and follows are loved! **

**~Jess**


	3. Chapter 3

Hotch repeated what he had said and my squeal died in my throat as I finally understood what was going on.

Ohmygod. Ohmygod. I was the new addition to their team. Ohmygod I was a part of the BAU.

Best. Fucking. Dream. Ever.

I sucked in a deep breath and fought to remain calm. "Cool cool," I said nonchalantly, flicking my hair over my shoulder, absolutely positive that I was giving off an aura of absolute coolness. Hotch gestured for the young police officer to leave and I waved at him as he quickly backed away and was soon lost in the stream of people.

We stood in awkward silence for a moment before Hotch cleared his throat uneasily. "So uh, come in and I'll introduce you to the rest of the team." I nodded and followed him inside. The room was how I had seen it in almost every episode of Criminal Minds; rather bare, dark and the only furniture being a large circular table situated in the middle of the room with the rest of the BAU sat around it. They looked up as I entered and my eyes immediately found Reid, sat directly opposite me and looking absolutely adorable. I love him I love him I love him. His hair was casually messed up, kind of windswept but not as long as it had been before. He wore an olive dress shirt, half un-tucked from a pair of yellowish corduroy trousers. Man oh man he looked so hot. Reid suddenly looked up and met my eyes and I quickly looked at something else so he wouldn't think I had been staring. Wouldn't want him to think I was creepy.

Completely acknowledging that I was of course.

"Alright everyone this is Tessa Winters," Hotch addressed the room. "She'll be assisting us on our future cases." I smiled and waved shyly, hoping that everyone would just ignore the fact that I looked like a ten quid whore.

Penelope Garcia's mouth fell open and she paused, clicker in mid air, pointed at the screen on the wall. And then suddenly she threw the clicker up in the air, shrieked and jumped me, wrapping her arms around me so tightly you would have thought she was trying to kill me. Jesus she could move for a woman in heels as high as hers. That required some serious skill.

"Ohmygod hi I'm Penelope Garcia the brains behind the computer screen!" she said all at once. I tried to reply but all that came out was a gasp. "Oh sorry!" Garcia grinned as she released me. I sagged against a chair and smiled once I had taken a deep, rattling breath.

One down.

"Hi Tessa, I'm Jennifer Jarou but everyone calls me-"

"JJ!" I interrupted. She stopped and raised an eyebrow.

"How would you..?"

"I had a friend in college called JJ," I quickly made up. JJ nodded and I inwardly wiped sweat from my metaphorical brow. I needed to be more careful otherwise I was going to look like a stalker.

"David Rossi," Rossi stood up and shook my hand firmly.

"Hi," I replied unsure of what else I should say.

"Is that an English accent I detect?" he asked and I couldn't help but grin.

"It is indeed."

"Let me guess," Reid spoke up suddenly, getting up from his seat and moving around the table towards us. He stopped right in front of me and was close enough that I could smell him. Man I almost passed out there and then, enveloped in his heady scent of old books and infinite wisdom.

"You overemphasise your r's and occasionally you draw out your words making them longer than necessary." Reid paused as if studying me and I drew back slightly. What was he trying to do? "This likely means that you were brought up in a wealthy area and had a private education but you have picked up bad habits by occasionally dropping t's. Because of that I would have to assume that you moved away from where you grew up, and lived up until recently in a poorer area-"

"I wouldn't exactly call Camden Town a poor area." I cut in and Reid blinked at me.

"Ooh," Morgan shook his head and grinned so wide all I could see were his shiny white teeth. "You just interrupted Reid."

I frowned. "Um was I not supposed to?" Everyone but Reid laughed.

"People generally spend most of their conversations with him so confused that they just try to keep up." Morgan replied, chuckling. "I'm Derek Morgan by the way." He stood up and shook my hand.

"Nice to meet you."

"Spencer Reid," Reid introduced, flicking his hand up in a half-hearted kind of wave and then skulking back to his seat.

"Alex Blake," Blake said from across the table and smiled at me. So I must have been thrown somewhere in the midst of season nine because Blake was here which meant Prentiss was in London? Hotch directed me to the seat beside Reid and I sat down, trying to get my time-line right in my head.

"Now everyone has been introduced we can get back to the case," Hotch said, sitting down and Garcia stood up.

"Right," she started. "A quick recap for those who missed the beginning-" Garcia shot a quick smile at me and then her face turned serious- "Sara Jessop, a ninety year old resident at Old Oak care home." Garcia flicked to the first page of the powerpoint and an image of an old woman with wispy grey hair and sunken eyes appeared on the screen. "This was how she was found in her room a week ago." A second picture of the woman popped up, this time she was lying in a bed and it looked like she was sleeping peacefully aside from the angry red burns and rashes around her mouth, mostly on her chin.

I had only ever seen four dead bodies in my life, and they were a long time ago. I sucked in a deep breath and clenched the glass of water which had been placed in front of my seat. Out of the corner of my eye I saw JJ and Morgan exchange glances and then their eyes met mine. They quickly looked away and I leant back in my seat, determined to look like this sort of stuff didn't bother me. I had to act like a pro.

"And then-" Garcia fiddled with the clicker and the slide changed to two pictures of a white man with greasy brown hair and lots of acne. He had a slimy looking face in both photos although in one of them he was stone cold dead. The same rash was around his mouth and chin and had found its way onto his fingers and hands too. They lay outstretched where he had fallen in what looked like an alley.

"-Tyrone Willis was found this morning. He worked at the same care home where Sara lived and seemingly died of the same causes."

"Which was what?" Morgan asked. I studied the picture and realise that the rash was centred solely around his mouth much like Sara's had been. Could that mean that whatever had killed him he had ingested?

Garcia shrugged. "The results from Sara's autopsy haven't come back yet but from what I've heard they haven't found anything that could help us."

I decided to voice my thoughts. "Wouldn't the rash around their mouths suggest that they ate something that was potentially harmful?" I asked a little nervously. I seriously did not want to look like a twat in front of these professionals.

"It's incredibly likely that that's what happened," Reid said thoughtfully. "The rash around their mouths indicates that whatever it was was harmful when it came in contact with their skin."

Yes! Score one for the bartender who was completely out of her depth.

"So where is it we're heading?" Blake asked, packing up some papers into a briefcase.

"We're staying right here in Quantico," Hotch answered. "The care home is about to be investigated but we have asked the police to hold off on all investigations until we've had a chance to assess the case."

"So uh what now?" I asked.

"Everyone go home and get some rest. We'll start work in the morning."

In the morning?

"Wait- what time is it?"

"9:17pm." Reid answered. Right. So uh I just realized that I had no where to go. Maybe the fucking insane dream will have me sleeping in five star accommodation with a pool?

"I um haven't quite sorted out anywhere to live..." Hotch raised an eyebrow. An excuse, I need an excuse. "I was doing an undercover thing-" I gestured to my outfit- "and was very suddenly flown out."

Hotch nodded then looked around the table. "Can anyone take Tessa until she finds somewhere to live?" There was a resounding silence and I bit my lip. Looked like I was about to spend the night in a hostel.

"She can stay with me," Reid suddenly said. I wasn't entirely sure about what happened next but I was pretty sure that I blacked out for a few seconds from pure bliss. Living with Reid. I was going to fucking live with Reid.

I turned to look at him after taking many deep breaths and I gave him what I hoped was a take me right here right now kind of face because honestly I was feeling fabulous. "That's so kind of you."

Reid shrugged. "No problem." Suddenly everyone began getting up from the table and I got to my feet too.

"Here you go." Morgan slid a badge and credentials across the table and I picked them up.

Supervisory Special Agent Tessa Winters.

Ohmygod that was so cool.

"And this is for you." He took a gun from a drawer. "Catch." And the he threw a fucking gun at me.

"OHMYGOD!" I screamed, flailing my arms wildly. I caught the gun with one hand and flung it back across the room. My finger caught the trigger and the gun fired a shot into the middle of the table. I jumped about a foot in the air and landed on the floor. Suddenly everyone was yelling and screaming and Morgan was diving for the gun and there were more screams coming from outside.

"WHY WOULD YOU THROW A FUCKING GUN AT ME?" I screamed at Morgan.

"I THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO CATCH IT." he yelled back, waving his arms around.

"Would you be careful with that thing!" JJ shouted at Morgan who carefully placed the gun on the table.

"WHY WOULD YOU THINK THAT? DID I AT ALL GIVE YOU ANY REASON TO BELIEVE THAT I WAS PREPARED TO CATCH A LOADED GUN?"

"I WAS JUST JOKING."

"OHMYGOD WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU."

And two and a half hours later, after the entire building had been evacuated, I went home with Reid.

**A/N- Haaai guuuuys. I was suffering from technical difficulties (a large picture of me definitely did not fall off my shelf and land on the laptop thereby smashing the screen and my heart. I knew something that narcissistic would only mean trouble.) and have only just summoned up the courage to smash through this writer's block and finish the chapter! So sorry for the wait but as always reviews and follows are loved (seriously I squee like a little girl). **

**~Jess **


	4. Chapter 4

"So how do we get to your apartment?" I asked, trying to keep up with Reid. Damn his long legs. He was moving quickly down the street, weaving in and out of an amazing amount of people for 11 o'clock at night. I lived in London, in Camden town even where there are artists and punks and free spirits who run around all night playing heavy metal and throwing paint over the pavements but it seriously looked like it could have been 11 o'clock in the morning the streets were that busy.

"Come on keep up," Reid called over his shoulder. I heaved a sigh and sprinted to his side. Which was not easy in the shoes I was wearing so consider me a total badass.

"Or you could just slow down a bit," I said as we turned a corner. "Your legs are a hell of a lot longer than mine." I was marvellously short. I had made peace a long time ago with the fact that I had stopped growing at around fifteen which left me at about five ft seven. So of course I looked like a hobbit next to Reid, the gangly spider man.

I tripped over a beer can and grabbed onto Reid's arm to steady myself. I kicked the can away in an attempt to regain some of my dignity and walked straight into a pretty brunette.

"Shit sorry," I said, grabbing Reid's arm again to avoid getting trampled. The woman threw me a look of utter disgust and tossed her hair over her shoulder.

"Look where you're fucking going," she spat at me before storming off. Reid and I exchanged wide-eyed looks and I whistled.

"Fuuuuck- imagine if I'd fallen and she walked over me with those bad boys." I said eyeing her killer heels warily. "They would have punctured a lung." Actually, wait- I'm sure I had those heels at home. Of course! Electric blue, strappy, feet killing machines. They were gorgeous though, fucking expensive too. Cost me half my rent.

Oh god I just remembered the only clothes I currently had with me in Virginia were the ones I was wearing. Shit shit shit. I looked like a fucking hooker, I couldn't go to work like this and expect people to take me seriously. Fucking hell.

"Uh Reid-"

"If we're going to be living together for a while then you should probably call me Spencer- it's less formal." I swear my knees turned to jelly at that sentence and all thoughts vanished from my head. _Call me Spencer_. Fucking yes.

"Sure Spenny-"

"Spencer-"

"Right yeah. So anyway, I have no clothes." Reid stopped quite abruptly at that and I crashed right into him. Well into his arse. I'm sorry did you hear me complaining? "Jesus Spencer what is wrong with you?"

He turned around and stared at me in confusion. "What do you mean you don't have any clothes?"

I swallowed and coughed nervously. Think of something Tessa. "Well when I said I left very suddenly, I meant very suddenly." Reid looked at my outfit and I bristled. "This isn't my normal wardrobe buddy, I was doing work as a bartender." How did I get so good at lying? That is a skill I tell you. It's not easy.

"So what do we do? You can't go to work like that." Reid asked. I raised an eyebrow.

"You know for a genius, you're pretty clueless." Reid continued to stare blankly at me and I sighed. "We go shopping dumb arse."

"But it's 11 o'clock at night..."

"Oh please," I grinned. "That's generally when my day starts. So, know any good clothes shops?" I looked at his outfit and paused. Was it really wise to be asking Spencer corduroy Reid if he knew any good clothes shops?

"I-"

"How about we wander round and I'll find something?" I interrupted. "So I can get to know my way around?" Reid pulled a face.

"It's really late and we have to be up early-"

"Well I have to get something to wear," I whined, pouting at him. Please Reid- Spencer rather- please fall for my adorable puppy dog face. He sighed and judging by his slumped shoulders- he conceded and I won.

"Fine," he sighed. I grinned.

"Yes victory is mine!" We crossed the busy road and I spotted what looked like a fuck of a lot of lights in the not so far off distance.

"There's a mall just up there," Spencer pointed, his finger directed at the plethora of dazzling lights. Finally, something that would put me back into my comfort zone- picking out some fabulous clothes. I know what you were all thinking of me- resents her rich parents, goes against the flow, hates all things girly, absolute badass rebel (so that last one was true) and yeah that was kind of what I was about but let's just get one thing straight.

I. Loved. Shopping.

I loved it with an absolute passion. Clothes and shoes and bags and accessories were my one true love (aside from my dashing ginger kitty Kevin, who would always have a special place in my heart). I could never really afford to shop much on my income but its still always been a passion of mine.

"Let's go let's go let's go!" I squealed, practically skipping along the pavement with Spencer trying to keep up. I dodged in and out of people expertly with new-found grace and sped ahead of Spencer, reaching the entrance to the mall first.

And then my jaw dropped.

Holy. Fucking. Shit cakes the place was huge.

"I think I'm in love," I whispered with my hands over my mouth in what could only be described as pure joy. Spencer caught up with me and looked like he couldn't help but laugh.

"Do you shop a lot at home?" he asked, leading the way in.

"I'm poor at home," I said sadly. "Mum and dad cut me off when I got married to my friend Jeremy for a dare." Spencer turned to me incredulously.

"You got married for a dare?" I smiled sheepishly and nodded.

"I'm an impulsive person," I said as if this were a perfect explanation for getting married. "It's cool though because our marriage was like four months long."

"And then you joined the 42% of marriages which end in divorce." Spencer answered. I shrugged. Jeremy and I were still good friends; we got married when we were eighteen and completely drunk and then lasted four months before he met someone. We didn't even live together.

"I won like five hundred quid from it," I replied with a grin. Spencer shook his head just as I spotted- oh my lord.

I had just found the holy land. Primark. I stopped outside and stared in wonder and joy. I was feeling more and more at home by the second.

"We're going in here." I declared before marching in and leaving Spencer to follow me. I walked into the shop and almost fell over in shock. It was huge. It was absolutely fucking huge. Like my flat would fit into here about seventy times over- it was insane. And I had all night to float around my favourite shop on cloud nine.

"Baby I'm home," I whispered.

I found myself immediately in the dress section and ran to a gorgeous white little number with a delicate floral pattern. It was a little strappy dress which cinched in at the waist and then flowed to about mid-thigh. I stroked the soft cotton fabric lovingly and sighed in contentment. Spencer stood beside me, trying his hardest to look interested.

"So what kind of stuff do I have to wear?"

"There is no regulation uniform," Spencer answered. "But smart dress is required to maintain professionalism." I frowned.

"Riiiight... What kind of things do JJ, Blake and Garcia wear to work?" Spencer shifted uncomfortably and scrunched his face up.

"Um well Garcia wears um-"

"Okay don't worry about it genius," I chuckled. "How about you just tell me if something looks nice or not?" Spencer looked relieved and nodded.

"I can do that." Spencer then made his way over to some comfy looking chairs by the dressing rooms and fell into one of them.

My fashion icon in Criminal Minds was most definitely Penelope Garcia so I was determined to channel her in my outfits. The shoes, the dresses, the cardigans and the fabulous hair accessories. I grabbed the gorgeous white dress and checked the label for the price. $10, thank you Primark. Wait- did I even have any money on me? I dropped the dress and frantically dug around in the pockets in my skirt for my wallet and heaved a huge sigh of relief when I found my wallet and my phone.

"Oh this is a fucking amazing dream," I muttered, flipping through my purse to ensure all my cards were in order. I had four credit cards, a debit card, my passport, two café Nero loyalty cards, a Waterstones loyalty card, a Costa card and a picture of Kevin. Oh thank god everything was there. I even had £80 in cash. I was probably going to need to convert that into dollars soon. And ship my stuff over. Do I cancel my lease on my flat? Oh my god poor Kevin stuck all alone in my flat with no food! I needed to get him over here with me-

Okay, take a deep breath and calm down Tessa. You could sort all of this stuff out in the morning and Kevin will be fine for the night because I accidentally knocked over the cat pellets all across the kitchen floor so he could eat his way through that until tomorrow when I can get ahold of my friend Kat to come in and feed him.

Taking a few deep breaths, I calmed myself down and picked up my beautiful white dress. "Let's get this show on the road!" I said to myself and began picking items. I grabbed a few more dresses, trying to find really smart ones that not only looked gorgeous but professional as well. Then I picked out some t-shirts, tops and a few hoodies because fuck knows what the weather was like in Virginia. Cardigans came next, some long and some short- suitable for all situations. I found some skinny jeans, a few high-waisted skirts and some shorts too just in case. It took me longer to find some smart black trousers because the last time I wore something 'smart' was during a practice interview in secondary school. And then it took me an absolute age going through the shoes (of course I picked all of the extremely high heeled ones) with only a few flats, a pair of sneakers and a pair of brown boots.

"I think I'm done," I called to Spencer who had fallen asleep in the chair. I dropped the two baskets full of clothes onto his stomach and he shot up, blinking wearily.

"Are- are you done?" he asked, attempting to cover up a yawn. I smiled sheepishly and nodded.

"Oh wait-" I stopped. "I need underwear." I moved a few feet away to wear the bras were and tilted my head to side, really trying to choose something nice and subtly sexy. I had to have at least one of those awkward moments when Reid walks in on me half naked otherwise my life would never complete. I found some red, blue, purple, black and white lacy bras and grabbed matching underwear before marching back to Spencer who was starting to fall asleep again.

"What do you think?" I asked, dangling the bras in front of his face. Spencer's bloodshot eyes sprang open and his face reddened immediately.

"Oh I uh- I'm not- I don't-" I grinned devilishly and placed them in one of the baskets.

"Should I try them on to make sure they fit?" Spencer choked and couldn't help but burst into a fit of laughter. "Ohmygod dude I'm kidding, chill out!"

"I'm chill," Spencer insisted, straightening his sweater vest and tie. Oh that reminded me, I needed to find a pair of hair straighteners and curlers, plus a hairbrush and toothbrush. God it was like starting a new life. When I left home as an eighteen year old, I had all of my stuff with me and only had to buy one or two bits but now I had to get all of my personal things again. It was just a bit surreal.

I found the last few bits and almost cried as the woman put everything through the check out and read the cost. "That's $576.40 please." The cashier held her hand out and I chocked back tears. Shit this was going to put me on the verge of bankruptcy. I reluctantly handed over all four of my credit cards and turned to Spencer miserably. He looked at my sad face and chuckled. I wasn't sure if it was from my face or the exhaustion but his chuckling was catching and before I could stop myself I was giggling deliriously also. The girl behind the counter gave us odd looks as she handed me back my cards and the many bags full of clothes. Spencer very kindly grabbed a few and then we made the long journey home.

"That was horrible," I declared, throwing the bags onto Spencer's couch in disgust. I was so tired and just completely dead inside that I didn't even have the energy to take in Spencer's apartment and squee over absolutely everything. Spencer closed the door behind him and dumped his bags next to mine.

"Do we have to make that same journey everyday?" I asked. I bloody hoped not. I took the metro, ladies and gentleman and let me tell you, it was fucking awful. Here I was, innocently and ignorantly assuming that it was going to be similar to the tube but no, it was slower and later and I'm not even sure how but dirtier. Fifty percent more homeless, drunk and unwashed people guaranteed.

"Unfortunately yes," he answered, turning on some lights. The lights burnt my exhausted eyes and I groaned.

"So sleepy..." I mumbled, rubbing my eyes. Spencer muttered in agreement and I felt him poke my arm.

"I'll show you to your room," he said, picking up my bags. I went to grab some but he pushed my hand away and I blindly followed him down the hall.

"I get my own room?" I asked in surprise. Spencer nodded and pushed open the door into a decent sized room with a double bed, a vanity with a large mirror, a chest of drawers and a little night table with a lamp. The walls were cream as was the carpet and the curtains were white and billowy.

"This is um very feminine... Is it yours?"

"I made it up for my mother but she doesn't stay very often." he answered, putting the hundreds of bags in the corner. Man oh man he was so hot. I loved him so much.

"My room is just opposite so let me know if you need anything," Spencer smiled. I caught his arm and smiled sleepily.

"Thank you so much- for everything." Spencer returned the smile and I think I got lost in his eyes for a second. Score one for me- I just created the perfect 'moment'. And then the moment was broken and Spencer mumbled a goodnight before leaving.

I fell into the bed and sighed happily and smooshed my face into the pillows.

"Tessa are you ready yet?"

"Whaaaaaat?" I called back, raising my head from my pillows drearily the next morning. Sunshine flooded in through the open curtains and burned my retinas. I felt like I had the hangover from hell, which was probably because Spencer and I didn't stumble through the door until four in the morning. Which had been but a mere three hours ago.

"We have to be at the crime scene in an hour Tessa and we haven't even left yet." Whoops, I should probably get up soon.

"Yeah but an hour's ages," I argued, heaving myself out of the oh so comfortable bed and rolling out onto the floor.

"Are you even up yet?" Spencer called, suspicion lacing his tone.

"Pfft," I yelled. "Of course I'm up, what do you take me for?" I flopped around on the floor for another minute or so then rolled onto my stomach and got to my feet very slowly. I quickly undressed and grabbed a towel which Spencer had left out for me. Wrapping it around myself, I called through the door.

"Spencer, where's the bathroom?"

"Turn right from your room, it's literally right there." I went to open the door and Spencer continued. "Why do you need to get into the bathroom?"

I paused with one hand on the door knob and the other holding up my towel, like a deer caught in headlights. "Um- I just have to grab something super duper quick." I lied, slowly turning the handle.

"What do you need to-" I flung the door open and sprinted out of my bedroom and into the bathroom. Well, into the bathroom door actually which bizarrely opened outwards and not inwards like every other normal door in the existence of doors. So much for a quick escape fucking shit- face door.

"Tessa you're not even dressed yet- ohmygod where are your clothes?" Spencer shouted in surprise, springing backwards and disappearing behind the sofa. I looked down at my body and screamed because I had somehow lost my towel and was sprawled on the floor naked.

I continued screaming my head off as I grabbed my towel and sprinted into the bathroom. I sat down on the floor and put my head in my hands. Shit shit fuck shit oh the shame shit I can't believe Spencer saw me naked and we weren't even having great sex."Ugh." I rolled onto my back and moaned. "Fuck this is going to be awkward later." I hopped in the shower and tried to scrub away the angry red shame and blush that had turned my body into a glowing beacon of shame and mortification.

"Um Tessa," Spencer knocked hesitantly on the door. "We have forty minutes to get there."

"Yeah Spencer I'm coming," I called back, turning the hair dryer off and tightening my towel around myself. I took a deep breath and opened the bathroom door just as Spencer was about to knock again. Which resulted in him almost hitting me in the face. "Woah- watch it there genius," I smiled, trying to diffuse the tension. Spencer smiled then looked like he changed his mind and instead cleared his throat.

"Ten minutes then we really have to go," he said before turning and quickly walking into the living room. I whistled and pulled a face. Because that so wasn't awkward. I went back to my room and stared at the tens of thousands of bags which currently held my entire wardrobe. I rifled through some bags and after what must have been at least twenty minutes; I had pulled together my beautiful white floral dress, a pair of glorious black heels and a smart but casual black blazer to promote professionalism and tie the whole outfit together.

After a quick (fifteen minutes of painstakingly doing and re-doing the flicks of my eyeliner) make up session, I strolled into the living room and did a little twirl.

"What do you think?" I asked Spencer, sticking my hands on my hips and shaking my arse.

"You're really wearing that to work?" he asked and then shook his head. "Never mind, let's get moving."

"I'm sorry we're late," Reid apologised to Hotch as we ducked under the police tape and met up with Hotch, Blake, JJ, Morgan and Rossi. It was weird legally being allowed on this side of the yellow tape.

"Where have you been?" Hotch asked, the irritation evident in his voice.

"I-" Reid began but I quickly cut in.

"Someone jumped in front of the metro again and so all of the trains stopped," I explained, striking the perfect balance between looking sad and annoyed. Hotch nodded but the grim expression didn't leave his face.

"So what do we have?" Reid asked as we followed Hotch into the alley way.

"A white male, found by a woman walking her dog-" I didn't hear the rest of what he said because I had gotten my first sighting of the body. It was like the pictures but somehow more grotesque and twisted in real life. I left Reid and Hotch talking and walked up to Tyrone Willis- or what used to be Tyrone Willis. It was just a body now.

I took a deep breath and got closer. His arms were sprawled above his head and his legs were bent. He looked like he had just fallen over and died where he lay. Willis had just fallen into one of the many piles of rubbish which lined the alleyway. His face resembled the pictures but was a good deal paler than it had been which made the red rash and angry burns stark against his white skin. And his eyes were open. They were cold and dead and empty but they were open and they were looking at me. It was like Willis was staring right at me.

My heartbeat picked up and I felt the bile rise in my throat. So it came as no surprise to me when I was forced to stagger to the back of the alley and throw up the power bar and coffee I had consumed whilst waiting for the metro. I heard footsteps behind me and someone held back my hair as violent shivers continued to wrack my trembling body and the vomit spewed from my mouth and nose. After the last of the bile had disappeared from my throat and all that was left was a disgusting taste in my mouth, I stood up. JJ let go of my hair and handed me a tissue with a sympathetic smile.

"This the first time you've seen a dead body?" she asked, fishing out a bottle of water from her handbag and passing it to me. I took it gratefully and downed about half of it.

I shook my head. "No," I said shakily. "It's just been a very long time." JJ nodded and put a hand of my shoulder.

"Don't worry about it; I took one look at my first body and passed clear out." I laughed but it was humourless and more of a gesture of thanks for making the situation easier.

Spencer jogged over to me and stopped just short of us. "Are you okay?" he asked, his eyes squinting in the harsh light of the sun. I nodded and shot him a smile which didn't fool either of us.

"Thank you," I said to JJ before walking past Spencer and straight past the body, without sparing it a glance. I felt something connect with the toe of my heels and my eyes flicked down to see a half empty bottle of water rolling into a soggy cardboard box. I went and stood next to Rossi, calling to Hotch over my shoulder as he sent me a questioning look.

"I've seen all I need to see," I said in way of explanation.

One too many dead bodies equalled one too many unwanted memories.

**A/N- I would just like to take a moment of silence for our fallen comrades, who didn't make it through the shopping scene. It was equally as painful for me to write, I assure you all and felt much too like a stylish revamp of My Immortal for my liking but it had to be done because I'm trying to make this seem as real as possible. For all you fangirls/fanboys out there who have laid awake at night dreaming of becoming an OC in one of your favourite t.v shows- this is for you and this will be believable! **

**I would also like to love all over all of the beautiful people who have kindly reviewed, favourited or followed this story- it means the world to me, truly. So if any of you feel like you need to punish me for killing Reid (who is actually super duper hard to write and I'm really nervous about him) or who are totally jealous of the badass that is Tessa Winters, please tell me in a review. Or if you just want me to hurry the hell up with the next chapter that works too :D **

**~Jess**


	5. Chapter 5

I lifted a book from one of the shelves in Tyrone Willis' flat and flicked through it. 'Nursing for Dummies'. I held in a smirk as I placed it back onto the poorly constructed shelf and turned away. The man was obviously a professional. Oh wait- who was I to talk?

After my incredibly professional reaction to the body of one Tyrone Willis, Hotch had decided to send Spencer, Rossi and I to Willis' home not far from where he was found. There were a few uniformed police officers milling around as well. I wasn't entirely sure what we were supposed to be looking for but I had decided to just report anything of interest.

"Hey Spencer- I don't think this guy was very good at his job," I called to Spencer who was in Willis' bedroom.

"I'm under that impression also," Spencer answered. "I don't think he was very qualified." I could hear him shuffling around in the room, probably going through drawers and such. I knew Willis was dead and everything but the sheer invasion of privacy startled me a bit, I'll admit. I could just imagine people ransacking my bedroom and that made me feel a bit sick.

"Have you checked his post yet?" I asked, walking over to the coffee table and spotting a rather large pile of unopened letters. They were all stamped with bright red URGENT's which lead me to believe that he was not the richest of men, and that he was probably in a bit of money trouble. Hey weren't we all?

"You mean the mail?" Rossi questioned, joining me around the coffee table from the tiny kitchenette. I rolled my eyes and nodded. Damn Americans. I gathered up all of Willis' letters and passed some of them Rossi. I opened one of them. I scanned the official looking letter and realised that it was a bank statement confirming that his weekly pay had gone in. God that money was pitiful- no wonder he had such a shitty flat. I re-read it and spotted what I was looking for- an additional work address.

"Okay boys, Willis was a busy guy who didn't get much bang for his buck. He worked at a petrol station too." I read from the letter. "And he got some seriously shit pay." Rossi chuckled and dropped his letters back down onto the table. Spencer came through from the bedroom with a picture in his hand.

"And he had a girlfriend." He passed the picture to Rossi who showed it to me. A plain girl of about twenty with a sour face was scowling up at the camera. She had mean brown eyes, which were framed by a light brown bob, hanging just below her jaw.

"God she's a stunner isn't she?" I muttered.

"Her name is Megan," Spencer said.

"How do you know?" I asked, frowning. "You're not psychic." Spencer reached over and turned the picture over. _Megan xx _was scrawled on the back.

"Oh right," I said sheepishly. I swallowed back a yawn and blinked wearily. "I need a coffee."

"I think there's a Starbucks on the way to the gas station," Rossi told me. He pocketed the picture and made for the door.

"So that's where we're going next?" I asked in surprise. We had been here barely twenty minutes and we were already moving on without much notice. God FBI agents led busy and fast paced lives. Spencer nodded and we followed Rossi out. Rossi stopped to talk to an officer and then started down the stairs.

"Yeah Hotch told me to follow whatever lead we find. He's staying at the crime scene for a while and the others are going to the care home."

"Will we be joining them?"

"After this, we just need to try and discover what kind of a person Tyrone Willis was first." It was an interesting idea, to try and find out who Tyrone Willis was after he had died. Would the people around him depict him honestly? Would he be painted as a martyr or a nice guy? Could we ever really know who he was?

We reached the bottom of the ten flights of stairs what felt like four hours later, purely because I had been forced to crab sideways down them in my not so sensible heels. I didn't know how Garcia managed to walk around in them all the time and look so god damn professional. Rossi and Spencer were very patient and kept pace with me but Spencer did pull a 'I told you they were a bad idea' face when we finally found flat ground. I just did the mature thing and shot him an incredibly polite finger.

"I dibs the front seat," I told Spencer before doing a fun little run in my heels.

"Hey I was going to sit there!" Spencer hurried after me and I swear I actually heard Rossi's eye roll.

"This is the best thing I have ever seen," Rossi remarked from the other side of the car. I reached the passenger side (after confusing myself and running into the driver's door first) and held onto the handle.

"Unlock it!" I shouted. Rossi pressed a button on the keys and the locks clicked open just as Spencer reached me. I pulled the handle and tried to climb in whilst Spencer tried to slip past me. I bumped my hip into his just as he went to elbow me. I lost my balance and with a shriek I fell over.

"Oh god ow," I said rubbing my hip and feeling a bit dazed. Spencer had such a bony body, it was like fighting with a hedgehog.

"Sorry Tessa!" He got out of the car and offered me a hand up. I grabbed his hand and pulled him down with a grin before slipping my shoes off and jumping into the passenger seat. I slammed the door shut and pressed my face against the window.

"Sucker."

* * *

"I see it!" I shouted, tapping Rossi's arm excitedly. "I see it!"

"Okay Tessa but how about we let me drive so we don't die before we get there?"

"Yes yes-"

We had reached Starbucks. Rossi parked the SUV and we hurried inside because by now it was about eleven o'clock and we had to be at the care home by one to help interview the residents. Having been a coffee lover all my life, walking into Starbucks made me feel happy and at home. No matter where you are in the world, if you're feeling sad or lonely just find a coffee shop. That initial magical feeling of walking in and breathing in the scent of coffee, sugar and people and feeling so at one with the world. It was unrivalled.

"Tessa-"

"Shhhh!" I waved Spencer off, closed my eyes and smiled. After a few seconds I opened my eyes and felt refreshed.

"Done?" Spencer asked. I nodded happily. "Right, what will it be?"

I knew what I wanted even before I had looked at the menu board. "Iced caramel latte please."

That stuff was magic. So damn magic.

"You come here often?" Rossi asked, ordering a cappuccino.

"That sounds likes a bad pick up line," I told him. "But yes, I am a coffee regular."

"If she did I would have noticed her before." I looked away from Rossi in surprise and saw the barista guy behind the counter grinning at me.

"I'm sorry?" I asked, unable to keep the smile off my face. Gosh he was cute. Blonde hair, blue eyed, all American boy. They certainly don't make 'em like that back in England.

"I meant if you had come in here before then I would have noticed you. Because you're pretty," he added at my questioning look. I blushed. N'aaw, coffee and an admirer- what a nice morning. Minus the decomposing body of course.

"Well thanks, you're not so bad yourself," I replied, leaning on the counter.

"Is that an Australian accent I can hear?" Barista Guy asked. Australian- really?

"Uh no," I answered feeling a little despondent.

"New Zealand?"

"No actually I'm British," I ended the painful guessing game. Out of the corner of my eye I swore I could see Spencer scoffing at this guy.

"Oh exotic ay? Where's Britain?" Fuck me. This was why there were pretty people and smart people- the pretty people needed something to keep them going.

"Um I'm from England more specifically," I said hoping like hell he knew where England was. All at once I saw the light go on in his head and sighed with relief. Not a total imbecile then.

"Nice-" Barista Guy turned round and took our cups from the man behind him and handed the cups to Spencer and Rossi. He then placed mine on the counter and scrawled something on it, before passing it to me. We paid and Barista Guy winked at me and I smiled at him as we left.

"Why does my cup say nerd?" Spencer asked, sounding amused and slightly insulted.

"Mine says mafia guy," Rossi said. "What part of me says 'mafia guy'?"

"Maybe it's the suit," I said to Rossi. "And maybe it's the sweater vest," I told Spencer. I turned my cup round smiled.

_Cute Redhead. Call me- xx_

"Smooth," I muttered. The guy had obviously scribbled his phone number on hastily before passing it to me. I showed it to the two others and Rossi laughed whereas Spencer scowled.

"What's up your butt?" I asked him.

"Nothing," he bristled. "Just- the guy was an idiot. I'm surprised they actually let him handle coffee."

"They didn't if you hadn't noticed," Rossi pointed out and Spencer and I laughed.

"He wasn't the brightest," I admitted. We climbed into the SUV and Rossi put his coffee in the cup-holder. "But he was pretty hot," I added. I took a long sip from my iced caramel latte and savoured the strong coffee taste and icy temperature which left my mouth tingling.

"Yeah if you're into the dumb jock type." Spencer scoffed.

I shrugged. "Who knows, maybe I am?" There was silence in the backseat and I settled back in my chair and enjoyed the rest of the ride.

A little while later we pulled up to a petrol station which was just a little way out of town. It was small, nondescript and empty.

"Now remember, just act professionally and stay calm," Rossi said, stopping the SUV and making sure to not make eye contact with me.

"I feel like this is perhaps directed at me." I said.

"No no no," Rossi said. "Definitely not. I was talking to Reid." I looked at him suspiciously.

"Right. Well anyway you have nothing to fear, I'm cool as a cucumber." Rossi looked at me dubiously but I shot him a wide you-have-nothing-to-fear smile and got out of the car. Quickly I might add because I felt like somehow he might feel the butterflies that were threatening to fly up from my stomach and out of my mouth. Strangely enough this was more nerve-wracking than the lead up to seeing the dead body.

I held my head up high, took a quick sip from my drink then strode into the petrol station with Rossi and Spencer in tow. There was an acne-ridden teenager standing behind the till, with a pair of earphones in and his music so loud I could hear it from the door.

The Pretty Reckless; angsty.

I admit, the teenager threw me off slightly but I recovered quickly and carried on. Somehow I had been expecting to violently grill a legal scumbag not someone who had literally just discovered puberty. I walked over to the counter and tapped the boy on the shoulder. He didn't respond to my continuous tapping so I whacked him in the back of the head.

"Oi what the fuck?" the boy cried, ripping his earphones from his ears and looking up at me. Oh- this kid was hardcore. No one can rip out their earphones without even a wince. Time to take it up a notch.

"Supervisory Special Agent Winters," I said officially, whipping my badge out and flashing it in his face. I shook the badge mere inches from his nose and he actually went cross-eyed in an attempt to read it.

"Wait what-"

"I'm with the FBI and we're here to talk to you about Tyrone Willis." The kid looked scared shitless.

"What my colleague means-" Rossi stepped in. "Is that we wanted to ask you a few questions about Mr Willis."

"Can you even hit me?" the kid asked angrily.

"Pfft, of course I'm in the FBI, there's nothing I can't do."

"You can't actually do that-" Spencer pointed out.

"Shut up Spencer I can."

"Isn't that like assault?" the kid said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Not really..."

"Can we maybe stay on subject?" Rossi asked.

The boy flicked his badly dyed black fringe out of his eyes and eyed us cautiously. "What do you want to know?"

"What's Tyrone like in the workplace?" Spencer asked. The boy was quiet for a moment.

"He's kind of lazy I guess. And he takes some money from the till every now and again." So, either Tyrone was desperate or far too cocky.

"Do you hang out with him outside of work?" I asked. The boy shot me the evils but I slipped my badge out of my pocket again discreetly so that he could see it but the other two agents couldn't.

"No I don't really like him- no one does." I fucking loved this badge.

"Who's no one?" I questioned.

"Me, the manager and um there's a cleaner lady too," the kid replied.

"Are they here now?" Rossi asked. The kid shook his head.

"Nah, manager's on holiday and the cleaner only comes in nights." The boy looked about fifteen and he was all alone- managing a petrol station? Christ I could barely manage my corner of the bar for fifteen minutes at a time let alone an entire place.

"Right thanks for your time kid," Rossi said.

"Um why are you asking me all this stuff about Tyrone?" the boy asked.

"Cause he's dead and we want to know why," I said bluntly. All at once all attitude and colour drained from the kid's face and he looked like he was going to be ill.

And then he was.

"Oh shit!" I cried as the teenager promptly threw up all over the counter with absolutely no warning. I flew backwards but unfortunately Rossi was in the splash zone and got a nice dash of sickly yellow on his suit jacket.

"Sorry," the kid mumbled weakly. Being a bartender, I dealt with sick all the time so compared to the alcohol induced vomit, this was a walk in the park. I disappeared down one of the aisles and returned with a can of coke. Opening the top, I handed the can to the boy and he chugged it gratefully.

"Thanks for the help," Spencer said to him and then motioned that we needed to be going. Rossi followed Spencer dejectedly out of the shop, staring down at the splatter decorating his suit. I made to follow them but the kid suddenly called out to me.

"Hey are you going to pay for this?" he asked, holding up the can of coke. Seriously? Like I just broke my whole bad cop attitude just to make this spotty teen feel better and he's asking me to pay for it?

"I'm the FBI I can do anything!" I replied, quickly disappearing out of the door and hopping into the SUV.

"Bitch!" The teen called out to me, flipping me the middle finger. I retaliated as we drove away.

"Fucker!"

There was a silence in the car until Rossi finally spoke. "That was incredibly unprofessional."

"You have sick on your jacket."

Rossi dropped his head dejectedly. "It'll probably stain. It was such a nice suit too," he said sadly.

"There there." I patted him consolingly on the shoulder.

"Such a nice suit."

"What did you find out?" Morgan asked as soon as we walked through the doors of the nursing home.

"That Tyrone Willis had a girlfriend named Megan and used to steal money from the cash register at the petrol station he worked at," I summarised. "Also the cashier there is a little shit." Morgan looked at me. "But I digress."

"What was Megan's last name?"

"I don't know," Reid said. "Let me call Garcia."

"Well hold on," I said, finding a chair to sit down on. I took out my Blackberry and logged onto Facebook. "I can find her through the internet just as quick." I typed Tyrone Willis' name into the search bar and it came up with about seven hundred matches. I scrolled through until I found a profile picture that looked like Tyrone and I opened up his profile.

"Okay I've found Tyrone just give me a second," I said to try and shut up Spencer's impatient foot tapping. I clicked on the information tab on his profile and it came up with 'Tyrone Willis is in a relationship with Megan Harris'. "Got it- Megan Harris."

"So we have a name," Morgan said. "Now what?"

"Hold on, gosh guys." I clicked on Megan's name and it came up with her profile. "And she works - here... Plot twist much."

"Right," Morgan said, signalling for JJ and Blake to come over from where they had been talking to a receptionist. "Time to begin the interviews."

**A/N- Hi guys :) Sorry there's been a bit of a wait. I've just gone back to school (actually got into the sixth form of my choice and escaped with some pretty good GCSE's) and man there has just been so much work. I fleshed this chapter out like right after the last one but I was feeling particularly sassy today (I've been dying of what I swear is a killer cold the past two days) so I figured this would be a good time to add some of Tessa's trademark snark. **

**I would also like to be a pain and just for a moment talk about the upcoming season 10 of Criminal Minds. They're replacing Alex Blake with Jennifer Love Hewitt. I love the woman but she is apparently going to be the most badass, sassiest Mary Sue that ever was and this displeases me. Muchly. Can't be dealing with the attempt at stealing Paget Brewster's badass title. I just wanted to share my unhappiness at this - feel free to leave your thoughts as a review, I'd love to know if anyone shares my opinion. **

**Sooo... my apologies for this horribly long A/N, and what was probably a pretty boring chapter but as always reviews, favourites and follows are loved because your input is invaluable to me. Also I tried to tone down this swearing this time ;) see I am listening. **

**~Jess **


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